


Dog Walking Disaster

by surprisinglyblunt



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Blind Date, Dogs, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Humor, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-27
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:47:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22439773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surprisinglyblunt/pseuds/surprisinglyblunt
Summary: When Merlin finds a lost dog after one of the worst encounters of his life, he thinks fate might be punishing him for something, but is it really punishment or is the universe actually on his side this time?
Relationships: Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 15
Kudos: 200
Collections: The Merlin/Arthur Kiss Fest 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, June here! I'm hoping to get this story done today or the next for the Merthur Kiss Fest 2019, but if I'm not fast enough worry not, I'll still be posting it no matter what! Enjoy! :D
> 
> PS. Rated M for language reasons only. Better safe than sorry.

"I'm telling you, Gwen, I don't need to go out more, I'm outside right now, I've been enjoying the last few months of solitude just fine!"

"I know you've said that, but Lancelot thought you-"

" _DR. DULAC_ can tell me anything he thinks about me himself, thank you very much, especially since I'll be seeing him tomorrow morning anyway when I come around for my shift."

Merlin could hear Gwen sighing on her end. Sometimes he wondered if she actually practiced the perfect volume in which she should do it as to make it loud enough to be heard on purpose. He wouldn't put it past her.He paid for his coffee and made his way out of the shop as Gwen went on.

"That's exactly the point. You just got off a 24h shift and it's Saturday, but instead of trying to make the most of your weekend you decided to trade shifts again and coming back tomorrow!"

So, recalling work wasn't his best idea. He could live with that.

"Listen, I'm not having this argument with you agai–" _again_ , he tried to say before what seemed like a wall of bricks slammed into him, bringing them both to the ground and Merlin's hot coffee down his neck and shirt.

"Fuck!"

"My words exactly!" Merlin agreed with the brick wall before looking up at him, which he was now going to narrate as the – _very hot_ – blond arsehole since he was getting up just fine all by himself without uttering a single word of apology towards the person he propelled onto the pavement or trying to help him up. Not that Merlin needed a lot of help to get up, but it's the principle of the thing that counts!

"In a hurry then?" Merlin asked, finally standing and looking at the other man who seemed to be making sure he hadn't dropped anything, and really, Merlin should be doing the same instead of calling out the stranger like that.

"Yes, in fact I am, and if somebody had actually be looking where they were going I might not have had almost fallen into a concussion!" the unfairly attractive blond arsehole responded, glaring at Merlin as if he was just waiting for him to kneel and beg for forgiveness.

Hell, he really an arse, wasn't he?

"Oh, _you'd_ have fallen into a concussion would you? Well, it sure is a pity then that I'm the one who had actually hit the floor and has coffee dropping down his shirt!" he argued, emphasising it by angrily gesticulating towards his ruined shirt and soon-to-be sugar sticky neck.

"Well, I'm sorry for your coffee then, but as has been said before, I'm in a hurry." The blond said as he turned.

"Hey, you can't just–"

"You'll find that I can!" The blond arsehole countered as he started on a jog. And just like that he was running again, across the road and down the street.

"ARSEHOLE!" Merlin yelled at him, receiving only a backhanded goodbye wave in acknowledgement for his troubles while the blond's figure turned a corner and disappeared.

Merlin looked down his shirt and tried to see if there was anything to be done to diminish the stain when he remembered he was in the phone with Gwen before the coffee incident even happened and started looking around for his phone, which he found on the floor and picked it up. Thankfully the phone case seemed to have been sturdy enough to protect it from the impact and it wasn't broken, but the phone call had disconnected somehow between the collision and fall and he sighed. Gwen was going to be worried sick.

With his fate now including enduring long talks about how he should pay attention to people around while walking down the street and lots of nagging by well meaning friends, Merlin dejectedly started on his way to his flat again.

He was only a few meters away when he noticed it. A dog walking alone along the sidewalk across the road. Because of course it was. His day was just getting better and better.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter took a bit longer to write, it's also longer in length as you might have noticed. Tbh this scene kind of took over the chapter with how lengthy and background heavy it is so I had to split it into two and now we'll be having four chapters instead of three, yay...  
> Seriously tho, next chapter is supposed to be short and quick so I'll (hopefully) upload it later tonight. The fourth will probably be as lengthy as this one so I will be starting it after the third is done in hopes I'll be able to finish by tomorrow night at latest!  
> Thank you so much for the patience, I hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

"Ok, I think that's the best I can do for now." Merlin examined the scene playing in his living room, where the dog was now drinking water bowl like somebody might take it away if he left it unattended for a measle second. 

"You've got actual pet bowls and food here, I'd say that's better than most people." Gwaine offered looking amused. 

"Well, most people don't have to deal with emergency calls or accidental rescues so regularly, " Merlin pointed out, "Nor are they veterinarians for that matter." he completed as he sighed. "Again, thanks a lot for the help, Gwaine. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't caught him when he tried to run off." 

"Nah, you're just lucky I saw what was happening when I was coming back from my run, else he would have ran right past me and there's no guarantee we'd ever be able to catch up. He looks to be in great shape for a stray." Gwaine said staring at the dog who was now sitting by the water bowl, regarding them like he was the one examining if they were truly worth the trouble of staying put for once. 

"I don't think he's a stray." Merlin said as he stared back at the dog. He was a golden retriever, his nails were trimmed and he was way too clean to have been wondering for too long by himself. Turning back to Gwaine he said, "He's too well groomed for that, so probably a lost dog. I'll be taking him to the clinic with me tomorrow, I can check him up better with the equipment there and see if he has a microchip. it'll be a lot easier to find his owner if he's got one." 

"All right then! Guess you'd know better than me what to do from now on. " Gwaine sighed as he turned towards the door, "Don't hesitate to phone or come knocking for me if you need help with anything else though, I'll be–" 

"Just down the hall, " Merlin completed with a thankful but exasperated smile, "I know."

"You got it!" Gwaine said opening the door, a wink and he was gone. 

He truly had great friends he thought. Which was obviously some kind of cue to the universe cause his phone started ringing just then. Merlin pick up his phone and sighed after looking at the caller id but decides to accept his fate. 

"Hello?" 

"Merlin?" Gwen asks in lieu of hello, "What happened? There's was this noise and the call just dropped all of a sudden, are you ok?!" Her voice panicky and high. 

"Hey, hey, Gwen! It's ok, take a breath." he instructed her quickly, "I'm alright, just had a bit of a run-in with one of biggest arseholes I've ever met, that's all." 

"a run-in?" She asked dubiously, breathing starting to go down again. 

"Or anything that equals me getting knocked off to the ground by a running man and proceeding to argue with him on the street, I guess."

Gwen's laugh was so abrupt and loud Merlin cringed away from the phone. Her mood getting lighter now that she knew he was ok. 

"Yeah, yeah, laugh all you want. You're not the one who had hot coffee poured down your neck and shirt." 

At that her laugh slowed at least, tone growing more serious, "Oh, but you weren't burned were you?" 

"No, but my neck feels quite sticky now after the coffee and the exercise." 

"Exercise?" 

"I might have found a lost dog on the way home." 

And just like that the laughing was back. 

"Oh, Merlin! For somebody who likes animals as much as you do your life sure isn't a walk in the park, is it?" she said, tone growing more amused with each word. 

"Ha-ha. That's really funny, how long have you been waiting to use that one?"

"Not long considering how eventful your life is!" 

Merlin could practically hear her smile now. It was really hard staying mad at her when she did that. 

"Ugh, you're the worst friend. I need to clean up now after my _eventful_ _day,_ I'll talk to you later, ok?" 

"You're an awful liar. I'm your _best friend._ But don't worry, I won't tell Gwaine." 

"God, yes, please! We'd never live to see another day if you did!" 

They both laughed a bit more on Gwaine's behalf before Gwen sobered up again, "Since we're talking about friends, Morgana called. She's been wanting to talk to you, so try to find sometime to phone her, ok?" 

Merlin swore under his breath. He had been trying to avoid Morgana after his break up with Freya. She was the only one to warn him it might not work out since Freya was a biologist and was always travelling for her researches. She tried to tell him he wouldn't handle the long distance. And she was right, though. The relationship crumbled to pieces after Freya's third trip.

If she had taken time to ask Gwen to tell him she wanted to talk though, it must be something more than her just being really irritated with his behaviour of late, right? 

"Ok, I'll try to remember that." and with that they gave their goodbyes and hung up. 

Merlin sighed and made his way to the bathroom, deciding he'd talk to Morgana tomorrow. He was too exhausted to talk to anyone right now. 

After taking a shower and dressing to stay in he wondered into the kitchen to see if there was something in his fridge that could be salvaged. No such luck. 

"Biscuits it is then." he told himself. 

He took the jar with him into the living room where the dog was lying by the sofa. Upon his entrance though the dog stood and made for where he was, following him all the way to the sofa again and putting his head on Merlin's knee as to if asking to be pet. 

"Well, aren't you being real friendly, now?" He said conceding to the dog's wishes and petting his head and down his neck. "You must be used to getting lots of attention..."

The petting movement got slightly caught by the dog's collar every other few times he did it and so Merlin took advantage of the position to get a better look at it's dangling tag which over inspection showed only the dog's name and no further information. Who would so vain as to pay for the engraving of the pet's name but leave no info? Looking at the tag again he snorted. 

"Apparently the same person who names their dog 'King'." 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how do I even start to say this? lol
> 
> I'm so sorry guys, really. This chapter just...became sentient and wrote itself I think. I had planned for it to be just another 600 words chapter but somehow this happened? Honestly, I'm as surprised as any of you. I hope the fact that it is over 2000 words appease you to the fact I took this long to update.  
> I'd say the final chapter will be up tonight since it has less variables in it, but by now I know better than promise anything lol

Merlin decided to walk from his flat to the clinic that day. The weather had been growing warmer these days and though Merlin was enthusiastic about being able to enjoy the outdoors in the sunny weather, he was also an incredibly enthusiastic about not having sweat stains while talking to patient's owners. The whole thing was too awkward to all people involved when it happened after all. He much preferred the spring for those specific reasons. Not too cold, but not too hot either _and_ he could enjoy the view of the park on his walks much better that way.

Even through the impending summer, it was early enough in the morning to still be pleasantly chilly from the past night, not too much as to be uncomfortable for King to walk without protection though. The perfect time for a walk, really. If only it'd stay that way. 

King seemed to agree with him at least on that, walking in front of him as if he owned the street. Merlin was starting to see a recurrent personality trait there. After last night petting fest, King had tried to steal his biscuits, and a couple hours later, when Merlin went to bed, King followed him all the way to his bedroom and refused to bulge from where he was laid down right in the middle of the bed, leaving Merlin to try the most uncomfortable positions on what was left of the side of it. 

Merlin regretted laughing on the choice of the dog's name the last night. King was obviously the perfect name for such self-entitled dog. 

On the way to the clinic King only stopped when he stopped to buy a coffee, but continued on his power walk when Merlin started moving again. Merlin was afraid King would recognise the clinic as a scary place to be in when they got there since some the dogs and cats seemed attuned to when they were being brought to the vet, but King didn't even flinch. They entered the clinic, Merlin greeted Vivian at the reception and the early risers in the waiting area and went into the back room with King without a problem. 

Merlin is just putting on his coat preparing for his shift when Lancelot comes out of the lab. 

"Busy night?" Merlin asked him, to which Lancelot chuckled. 

"You have no idea." 

He seemed to notice King sitting next to the lockers then. "I didn't know you had adopted a dog."

"I didn't." he said, putting the rest of his things away inside his locker. 

"But then whose–" 

"That's what I'm going to find out." Merlin interrupted."I found him wondering near my flat yesterday, thought it was better to come in today since I'm already on duty to check for a microchip." 

"Oh." Lancelot said, getting down to pet King's head and check his name tag."What about the tag?" 

"No info, just a name. I'm guessing whoever the owner is thought that putting the information on it too would look lame."

Lancelot just hummed as he looked at the tag and up to Merlin with a bit of a smile, "King?" 

Merlin snorted. 

"Yeah, acts like one too." he said, observing the dog pushing his head into Lancelot's hand, asking to be petted more, and chuckled. "He's spoiled rotten." 

"That's not always bad." 

"You say that because you didn't need to share your bed with him last night." 

"Fair enough." Lancelot conceded and stood up. "I'll be going now then, but Leon will be here to cover the night shift later." 

"Yeah, yeah, I know." God, it wasn't like he was planning on staying the night again too, he knew he had limits. 

"Ok." Lancelot said, taking off his coat and getting his bag from his locker. he looked at Merlin when he was by the door, "A good day to you both then!" he said to him as he opened the door and turned towards King, waving him goodbye as he went through it. 

As he got in a bit earlier than usual, Merlin had a few minutes before he had to start attending the waiting patients, so he got the microchip scanner and set to search for one on King, who a bit more restless now that he was actually being examined. Thankfully, it didn't take long to find his microchip either, and Merlin wasted no time, already typing the contact number on his phone and calling it. 

"Hello?" The contact asked gruffly. Merlin had probably awaken them, it was still early on a Sunday morning, so most people _would_ be in bed, he reasoned. 

"Good morning, sir. This is Dr. Emrys from Avalon Vet Clinic. I believe we have found your dog." 

"King?!" Exclaimed the voice quickly, "You've found him? Why is he in a clinic? Is he alright? Did something happen to him?!" There were some hustling sounds while the man continued to inquire about his dog's state through the phone, now sounding alarmingly awake for somebody who had just woken up. 

"Sir, if you'd please calm down and breathe I'd explain that everything is fine. He is ok, I found him yesterday roaming the streets. I'm a veterinarian so I decided to take him to the clinic with me to check for the microchip since his collar tag was bare of information."

"Right, sorry. Thank you for finding him." the man said in an exhale, "I've spent most of the evening and night looking for him yesterday so you understand if I sound a bit cautious."

"Of course." 

"Could you give me the address to the clinic, please? I'll be there as soon as I can." 

Merlin gave him the clinic's address and they hung up. 

"Well, that was not what I was expecting at all." Merlin told King as he put him in one of the empty cages for the time being. Merlin thought that with King's personality his owner would be more of the screaming and threatening type but it sounded like he was wrong. The man had just sounded worried and thankful for finally getting to know his dog's whereabouts and that he was fine. 

With that taken care of, Merlin started his shift more at ease with the knowledge that King not only had a caring owner, but that he'd also be there soon to take him home. 

Merlin was attending his third patient of the day when he heard a bit of a commotion from outside. Fortunately he was already finishing it up since the kittens were only in for their scheduled vaccination and, walking the patients and owner out the door he ventured out into the reception area to see what the noise was all about. 

"Sir, I just want to know if you have paid for the hospitalisation or if you'd be paying it now." 

Vivian's voice said as he got closer to reception.

"And I already said he's not hospitalised! Neither am I here for a consultation! As I said, my dog just happens to be here and I just came to pick him up!"

The man's voice sounded vaguely familiar to Merlin and he soon learned why because, turning into reception, standing a few meters from him arguing with the clinic's receptionist was none other than the blond arsehole from yesterday. 

Because of course he was. His day had started way too good to be true anyway. This might as well happen. 

Merlin sighed and cleared his throat to get their attention. 

"You," The blond man started, looking a little startled by Merlin's sudden appearance, but Merlin didn't let him continue. He was at work and really not amused at all by the universe antics by now. So he turned to Vivian. 

"May I know what's going on here?" 

"This _gentleman_ says-" 

"Excuse me but what are you doing here?" The blond asked interrupting Vivian, who by now looked one frustrating argument away from stabbing him with her pen. 

"Well, this is a veterinary clinic, and I happen to be the vet on duty today," Merlin answered, trying to control his temper. There were patients watching the scene after all. "But what I really want to know is why _you_ are here." 

"You're the vet?" The man asked in bewilderment. 

"I'm sorry", Vivian said looking irritated, pointing at them both, "do you two know each other?" 

"No!" They said at the same time. Cause speaking in unison is really convincing.

"Listen," the blond sighed, "I'm only here for my dog, ok? He's been missing since yesterday and somebody called me saying he was here." 

"You're King's owner?" Merlin blurted, shocked. 

"Yes!" The man exclaimed taking a step towards Merlin, "He's really here then?" 

Merlin was a bit floored at the excited smile the man had on right now. From his interaction with him yesterday Merlin would have thought that he wasn't really the type to even have a dog, least of all look that happy about finding one.

"Yes," ha said, trying to make sense of the situation. "I'm the one who called you to pick him up this morning. He's in the back room, follow me." 

He lead him to the back room and the reaction was instantaneous. King started barking and wagging his tail like an excited puppy while the man broke into a laugh and went straight for the cages, kneeling down to press a hand to the cage, King doing his best to lick his hand through the bars while the blond muttered how much of a good boy he was and other sweet things. 

Honestly, Merlin had seen many encounters between owners and their lost pets since he first got involved with animal care in his teens, but the gap between the infuriating man he argued with yesterday and this bloke, who knelt down in what looked like very expensive jeans and muttered sweet nothings to his dog, was surreal. 

Feeling a bit like he was interrupting something Merlin cleared his throat to get the man's attention. 

"Sorry," the man said as he get up, "I was worried he might have been hurt after running off between cars like he did yesterday." 

"Running between cars, eh?" 

"Yeah." he exhaled, looking back at King in the cage."To be honest I have no idea what could have made him run like that, he's normally really well-behaved." 

Merlin just hummed.

"Anyway," the man continued, this time looking back at Merlin and this really wasn't the best time for him to notice how pretty the man's eyes were."I think I owe you thanks… along with an apology." 

Hold on. What did he just say? 

"An apology?"

"Well, yes," The man nodded, "I was...rude, to say the least really, yesterday. I knocked us both off our feet and ended up snapping at you for no reason other than I was stressed and you were a being annoying, and I can acknowledge that probably wasn't the best approach to the situation."

" _Probably_?" Merlin asked amused at the wording, and the other man rolled his eyes. 

"Yes, ok, you see that? That's _exactly_ what I meant when I said 'annoying'," he pointed, "But…you're right. It was the worst way I could have possibly handled the whole thing, and I'm sorry." He finished sounding serious and genuinely sorry, and Merlin really couldn't deal with the whole _'I'll stare deeply into your eyes to show you my sincerity'_ thing he had going on right now, so he looked down to the floor instead. 

"That was… unexpected."

"Unexpected?" The man asked confused. 

"I accept your apology, of course," he said quickly, "I just didn't think you were the type to apologise." 

And instead of getting offended like Merlin thought he would, he barked a laugh so loud that made King, who had laid down in the cage during their conversation, sit up again. 

"I'm sorry, I had no idea you had created so many _expectations_ of me." His smile was positively wicked now. 

"Well, I didn't have much to go off from yesterday behaviour, did I?" Merlin responded, crossing his arms defensively. 

"Let me change that, shall I?", he said, still chuckling, and held out his hand to Merlin,"I'm Arthur." 

Merlin searched his face for a second before taking the offered hand in his. "Merlin." 

"I know." He said pointing at his chest, and Merlin looked down at his own chest in time to remember the name tag on his coat. 

"Oh." 

"Yes." He said, smile broad and irritatingly beautiful. "I'm guessing we can go now?" 

"We–?" 

"King and I, I mean." 

"Oh, oh, yes, of course." He fumbled, doing quick work of opening the cage and then watching Arthur attach King's collar to his leash as he petted King in goodbye. 

"Well, this was a bit awkward." Arthur said, making Merlin chuckle. 

"A bit."

"But not entirely unpleasant." He continued. And there were the eyes again. "I guess I see you around, Merlin." 

"Yeah, see you." He answered as Arthur opened the door and turned the way towards the front of the clinic with King in tow, the door closing automatically behind them. 

Merlin wasn't entirely sure what had just happened but to be fair he was trying to not think too much about it for now. So what if the rude bloke from yesterday had turned out to be a distressed dog owner with pretty eyes and a nice smile? That didn't mean a thing. Merlin could appreciate the beauty of another person without it meaning anything, it was _fine_. 

They'd probably never even meet again anyway, so there was nothing to think about really, everything was just fine!

—

It wasn't fine. 

It had been two weeks since Arthur picked King up at the clinic and Merlin had bumped into him a total of three times already. Two of them at the park, while he was walking with King. Apparently, Arthur had just moved into town and was still getting acquainted to it. And that? That wasn't fine _at all!_

Merlin had tried his best not to think about Arthur after their conversation at the clinic, but those accidental meetings with him was putting a damper on his plans. 

He said as much to Morgana while they were out drinking. She and him had finally talked about his break up over some drinks the last week and it was good. She could sound a bit rude when voicing her opinions but she was one of his best friends since Leon first introduced her as his girlfriend a few years back, and he was glad they were in speaking terms again. She was normally his go-to friend when he needed a bit of a wake up shake, so he was hoping she'd be able to help him with his current problem. 

"You, my friend, is in desperate need of a shag." 

Obviously he had been wrong. 

"I can't just shag somebody, Morgana!"

"Of course you can." she said simply, "But if you're really serious about forgetting your feelings for this bloke I have an offer for you." 

"I'm listening." 

"A blind date." 

"Ugh!" 

"Whine all you want, but you're the one who asked for advice, and you refused to make a move on Mr. Pretty eyes there, I'm being kind enough to offer you a solution." 

"I know," Merlin sighed, "but a blind date?" 

"If you're stressing over the candidate you can relax, I already have the perfect one in mind." 

"Who?" 

"My brother." 

"Your brother?!" 

"Yes." 

Merlin tried to get his thoughts in line, "Morgana, I thought we had agreed that I'd never be submitted to your family again after that disastrous first meeting with your father. Besides, I didn't even know you had a brother!" 

"He just moved here," she said inspecting her nails as if they were the most interesting thing in that moment, "and relax, he might be a bit of an arse, but people often say that's his best attribute."

"Not helping."

Something didn't quite sit right with him about this conversation. Like somewhere there was a detail he had forgotten but no matter how much he tried to get a hold of it the information just continued to stay out of reach. 

Then he thought about Arthur. The way he smiled, how his eyes shined after he said something just to annoy Merlin and the way his whole body moved with his laugh….

"Ok." he said, looking back at Morgana. "I'm in." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want you can follow me @surprisinglyblunt on tumblr and read about me screaming while trying to write this and my other WIPs.  
> I also have another Merthur WIP project going on at the moment, a long-ass slow burn, so if you're interested come say hello, talking about my WIPs always motivates me into writing more! :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! 
> 
> My sincere apologies for the long wait, I had a few tough couple of weeks and this chapter just wasn't flowing like the rest. I hope you've enjoyed this story as well as I did - I'm the first reader after all lol. I have plans to start posting my next Merthur fanfic soon, and if anyone is interested in seeing (reading) me rambling about this, or any other project I have going on really, you can go follow me @surprisinglyblunt on tumblr, I normally communicate a lot more in there about updates and such. With that said, enjoy! :)

"I can't do this." 

"What?” He heard Morgana shriek from where his phone was positioned on the bedside table. 

"This was a bad idea! I was drunk, I didn't know what I was agreeing to!" 

"Please, you were tipsy at best, and this is the best cure for your pathetic crush, believe me." 

"I think there are actual studies disproving that…"

Morgana sighed. She's been doing that a lot lately. 

"Merlin, darling, this is your first real date after a hard break up and, to top it off, you're doing it to forget your current crush, so it's ok to be nervous," She said, tone amenable and caring, "but if you don't get out of your house in five minutes and stop calling me mid-crisis while I'm trying to have a quiet night in with my boyfriend, I swear you will regret it." 

When she puts it like that… 

"Well, thank you for your services then, I'm never listening to you again." He said and she started laughing. 

"Oh, Merlin, you're going to be sending me gift baskets by the time it's over!" She said before hanging up. 

He didn't need to analyse what she meant by that, knowing Morgana it'd be something he'd get to know either way, whether he wants to or not. Merlin stopped for a moment to wonder if he had really been that desperate as to give control of his love life to Morgana, but then Arthur's smiling face appeared in his mind again and he had to give himself a little shake to disperse the line of thought. He had no time to waste on fantasies, he had a date to be getting to. 

-

Merlin looked over at the restaurant and couldn't help but think that Morgana really went all out for this.

The front of the restaurant had a bit of a classic vintage style to it, but Merlin could see from the front windows that the interior had more of a mix between modern and vintage furniture. It didn't seem to be completely full yet, but it quite early yet and it _was_ a big restaurant after all. 

Merlin gave himself one last minute to ask himself if he was really ready for this. He knew that contrary to what she may have said, Morgana would still answer if he panicked and ran before the date, it had happened before and she was one of his best friends for a reason. When he thought about it though, he had to have _months_ to collect himself after a break up that left him feeling scared and hopeless at the thought of ever falling for someone again just for him to go and get a crush as quickly as he did. And Arthur looked like a nice guy– when he wasn't being a complete _arse_ , that is– but Merlin didn't even know if he'd be interested in men, what's to say about dating anyone seriously right now, and Merlin wasn't really an one-off kind of bloke. 

The wound from his last relationship was also too deep for him to go through a rejection like that so soon. 

So he did what he thought was best, he took a deep breath and tried to look confident as he walked into the restaurant. He confirmed that he was indeed there for the reservation under Pendragon and they lead him to his designated table. After sitting down and accepting the water offered he looked down at his watch. He wasn't late, but he wasn't early either, his date must have been running late. 

So in the meantime, Merlin laid back a bit and thought about what he knew about his so called “date”, which was to say nothing. Morgana had said absolutely nothing about her brother to him after setting up the date besides repeating that he'd be pleased and that she was certain her brother was just his type. In hindsight, that was weird, Merlin didn't know Morgana had paid that much attention to his dating habits before, something wasn't right with the way she spoke to him either… 

Just then Merlin’s thoughts were derailed by the fact somebody was not only dangerously close to his table but also had just pulled the chair across from him.

"Sorry, I'm late. Kind of a busy day at the office." Arthur said gesticulating for the waiter and asking for the menu. "Have you asked for anything yet?" He asked, taking the offered menu from the waiter's hand and looking back at Merlin. 

Merlin couldn't quite grasp the situation because Arthur had just sat down opposite him and was looking at the menu like him and Merlin having dinner together was just a normal occurrence. And really, Merlin would like an explanation right now but instead he's got Arthur looking at him as if _he's_ the one not making sense in his silence. 

"Merlin, are you quite alright?" 

"Arthur." 

"Are you feeling well? you’re looking a bit pale, if you're not feeling well we could always reschedule, it's no problem–" 

"You're here." 

"Well, of course I am, I–" 

"But what– I mean, _why_ are you here?" Merlin interrupted again. He’d feel more guilty about it if anything were making _any bloody sense!_

There was a beat of silence before some sort of understanding appeared in Arthur's eyes and he sucked in a deep breath looking upset. "She didn't tell you." 

"She? Who–" 

"Morgana! Morgana didn't tell you that I was going to be here?" 

"Morgana? why would she–" Merlin tried to ask, confused, but Arthur was already on a tangent. It seemed like this was a night for interruptions.

"But of course she wouldn't, why would she? Morgana really went out of line with her jokes this time–" 

"Arthur!" He exclaimed, startling Arthur and some of the other people in the restaurant who were at hearing distance. But Merlin didn't care, he had finally brought Arthur's attention back to him. "I would really like an explanation about what you're doing here and what's Morgana part in in it, because I was supposed to be on a date and right now I have no idea what in the bloody hell is going on or what you're talking about!" 

If Arthur was shocked at seeing him explode like that he didn't let it show, but Merlin thought he saw a bit of the same fire from their first encounter slowly disappear along with the startled surprise in Arthur’s blue eyes before he took a deep breath, and started, looking at the rest of the restaurant who had gone back to eating their food now that Merlin had stopped his tirade."At this point I don't know what Morgana has told you, and this might be a bit or extremely embarrassing for both of us later on depending on what exactly she had in mind when setting this up but…" he paused, looking at Merlin before continuing, "I'm supposed to be your date."

"My date? But...what about Morgana's brother?" 

"Well, after this maybe I'll have to ask for some changes to be made in the family tree, but for now...yeah, that'd be me."

"You're a Pendragon." 

"Yep." He confirmed taking a long gulp of his glass of water. 

"And we're on a… date?"

Arthur put his glass back on the table and looked back at him then. Whatever he saw made his shoulders lose some of the tension and his eyes take a slightly soft edge as he sighed. "If want us to, yes."

This time Merlin was the one who needed to take a fortifying a breath before replying. "Ok." He said and never taking his eyes away from Arthur's and so he saw it clearly when Arthur started smiling again. 

"Ok." he echoed before picking up the menu again. "Now, shall we order?" he said, and this time Merlin was sure he had an answering smile on his face. 

With the waiter gone with their orders Merlin thought it a great time to start asking the questions that had been on his mind since discovering Arthur was Morgana's brother. 

" So… " he started, to which Arthur responded by lifting an eyebrow in amusement, "You're Morgana's brother."

"Yes, and believe me when I say that I'm as surprised as you by the turn of events." 

"Oh, I wouldn't say that." 

"What do you mean? I really had no idea she hadn't told you–" He tried to justify again but Merlin stopped him before he could elaborate. 

"I'm sure of that, but you still obviously knew who you were meeting here, while I thought she was just helping with–" He then stopped himself remembering the situation, "you know what, never mind that." 

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him and seemed ready to ask what he meant but Merlin was faster. 

"Anyway, since the misunderstanding is resolved, let's talk about the fact that I had to actually wait for you to arrive." 

Arthur rolled his eyes at the obvious change of topics but decided to humour him. "I've tokd you I moved here recently, yeah?" at Merlin's confirmation he continued, "Well, I'm working on the local Pendragon office by my father's request, he wanted me to act as a sort of representative for him here, I'm guessing." 

"So you're a businessman then." 

"Lawyer, actually."

"You don't seem too happy about it." Merlin remarked at seeing Arthur grimace. 

"I am, absolutely love my job, but my father… he's a bit old-fashioned, wanted me to go for a business course instead, I was supposed to be his successor. We argued about it and for a while I sincerely thought I'd lose that battle, but then Morgana decided we were being complete idiots about it and announced she'd be heading the company after all and that was that."

"Wow."

"Yeah, she's amazing." Arthur said then chucked, "terrible temper and a too much of a prankster to be honest, but amazing nonetheless." He looked thoughtful for a few seconds before continuing, "In hindsight, father might be a little bit more hard-headed though."

"Oh, I know." He said with a snort. 

"You've met my father?" he asked before drinking from his glass again. 

"I guess, if you define 'knowing' as arguing with him over his opinions on "half-breeds" and "mutts" and accidentally dropping my glass of wine down his shirt when we were having dinner with your sister, then sure, I've met him." he said, as Arthur started choking on his water. 

"You've dropped wine on my father's shirt?!" 

" _Accidentally._ " He repeats, "not that I was very sorry about it after listening to him, and this is hardly the worst thing that ever happened to me. I'm sure Morgana still holds me accountable for bumping into her when Leon was trying to introduce us and proceeding to pour my drink on her then favourite dress." 

Merlin internally rejoiced at the sound of Arthur laugh and allowed himself a little chuckle too. 

"How have you survived?" Arthur asked when he could breathe again. 

"It's not like she could actually kill me, she needs me alive and functioning to take over her beloved's shift when she's planning a date night." 

Arthur's chuckled. "You are a wonder, Merlin."

Merlin blushed. 

"Now I don't know if I should have apologised anymore." Arthur said. 

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, taking a sip of his water. 

"Well, as I'm seeing it, your clumsiness is most probably responsible for us colliding and with your history I'm lucky I wasn't the one to have your coffee staining my shirt."

"Oh, is that so?" Merlin says narrowing his eyes. 

"Yes." 

"From the way _I'm_ seeing it though, my bad luck is mostly brought on whenever I'm in close proximity to people of Pendragon heritage." 

"And does that happen often, the proximity?" 

"Not really…" he pauses, "you know, maybe that's the problem, should I make myself as close to the source of the bad luck as I can to make myself immune to it?" 

Arthur snorts. "I could certainly help you with that." 

"I was angling for your sister, but how generous of you to offer." 

"I could hardly have my sister do the hard work after all she's done for me." 

"That's really chivalrous, who would've known, Arthur Pendragon, a real knight in shining armor, coming to rescue his sister from the boredom of spending more time with her friends!" He said and Arthur did a mock curtsy. Merlin didn't know if it was the way they locked their eyes while he said that or if it had just been the result of trying to hold in a smile since the joke even began, it could have been both, really, but they were both laughing in a matter of seconds. 

Who'd have thought that after two weeks of what could only be considered as pining he'd be laughing at terrible jokes at the expensive of his awful Pendragon history with the bloke he fancied who also happened to be involved in one of said incidents?

After their laughter died down they continued to talk and trade questions, Merlin wanted to know how Arthur was faring in his new office, what he thought of the city and had King been behaving himself these past week? the answer was yes. And that lead them into talking about how Arthur got him in the first place. Merlin couldn't say he was surprised by the fact that it just happened that King had been a gift from Morgana. Apparently she had maintained him in her apartment for two weeks before Arthur's birthday and spoiled him rotten for the duration of it. In the end, his name ended up being inspired by her too after they argued over how spoiled he was, "what's the point of having a dog while being this rich if you aren't going to treat him like a king?" she had asked. Arthur said he had to take King to be trained after that, so at least he'd obey to commands. 

In turn, Arthur asked about Merlin's job and what exactly made him choose the career. No surprise there either, being raised in farm in the outskirts of an already secluded village kind of did that to you sometimes. He had been taking care of animals for as long as he could remember and he loved it. Making the transition from an unprofessional to a professional position had been quite smooth, putting the insane amount of course work he had to do for university aside, that is. 

They ended up talking for so long and were so engrossed into it they were surprised when the waiter arrived with their food. They continued their conversation all the way through dinner and when Merlin came back after excusing himself to the bathroom he saw the waiter going away from his table. 

"What was that?" he said, sitting down. 

"Ah, nothing." Arthur answered, suspiciously not looking at him. Merlin didn't believe for a second. 

"You paid for dinner." He stated. 

"I did." Arthur confirmed with a sigh. 

"You're unbelievable." And Merlin wanted to be mad, and in way, he was a little angry at for not being given the choice to pay, but mostly he was just incredibly amused really. So he decided not say anymore as they made their way to the front of the restaurant to collect their coats until they were outside. 

"You do know I'm a doctor?" he asked. 

"You're a veterinary." Arthur pointed out while signaling for a cab. As if Merlin could ever forget the nature of his job. 

"A _doctor_ nonetheless." He insisted, "I can very well pay for my own meals, thanks ever so much." 

Arthur sighed as a cab slowed to a stop by the pavement where they were. 

"I know." he said, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Look, I don't actually go on many dates, so I'm sorry if my methods are a bit outdated, but it's been a real long time since I've enjoyed myself this much and," there Arthur paused before looking back at Merlin, blue eyes locked into his own, "what I'm trying to say is, I'd like to ask if you'd be interested in a second date."

A moment passes in silence in which Merlin just tries to take hold of his chaotic thoughts before the cabbie loses all semblance of patience and buzzes them off, startling them both and yelling for them to finish it up already. 

Merlin sighed at the anticlimactic interruption before looking back at Arthur. "You're ridiculous." He said reaching for Arthur's coat and closing the space between them, kissing him like he wanted to for the last couple of weeks before separating and entering the cab. 

"Merlin, was that a–" 

"I can't actually make any plans without checking my timetable first, but sure. I'll text you the details later." He replied before closing the door in the face of a still dazed looking Arthur, the cab already starting before he could say anything. 

In the car Merlin chuckled to himself at the absurdity of it all. He had just had dinner with the bloke he fancied, who also happened to have be the one he argued with for starters, just to have the bloke's sister – one his best friends – pranking them both into a date! It sounded insane, it's true, but he should probably get that gift basket for Morgana anyway. Destiny worked in mysterious ways after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is possibly the cheesiest thing I've ever written. Kudos to you for surviving it. lol
> 
> Almost forgot! Thank you to everyone who left their kudos and comments! You guys really cheered me up and it really put a smile on my face while I was having problems getting this story finished, for that I'm very grateful! ❤️


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